New York shoppers ignored gloomy skies and let bargains be their umbrella yesterday as they flocked to malls and stores for the traditional kickoff of the holiday spending season.

At the Queens Center Mall in Elmhurst the escalators, aisles and food court all were packed with customers snaking their way through the crowds on the hunt for markdowns.

“I got an early start by shopping today, but it’s annoying, three people bumped into me in the store,” said Jessica Barreto, 25, of Queens as she left K-B Toys with two enormous bags stuffed with board games.

“I’ve witnessed and been in shopping fights,” she said. “It’s frustrating, bumping into people and trying to find the best sales.”

Visiting Irish innkeepers Angela and John Byrne said they plan to spend up to $10,000 on a whirlwind five-day Christmas shopping trip to the Big Apple.

“The credit card will get a good rattling today,” said Angela, 50.

The couple’s list includes gifts for their four children, two laptops and one desktop computer, linens for their inn in County Kilkenny and clothing.

Their favorite find of the day was at a Best Buy store near the mall where they bought a Kodak Digital Camera with all the accessories marked down to $300. It would have cost them over twice as much at home, they said.

“Our only concern is the baggage weight limit on the plane and how we’re going to carry all this stuff home with us,” Angela said.

In Manhattan, some stores were jam-packed while others were only moderately hectic.

At least two merchants provided entertainment – from mood music to live window displays.

At H& M on Fifth Avenue and 51st Street, DJ Liza played throbbing house music for shoppers who jammed the four floors.

“I’m just waiting for my girlfriend,” said Jack Buckman, 28, of the Upper West Side. “This is great. I get to look at all the lingerie and listen to the great music.”

A block away at the very posh St. John Boutique, there was a red carpet on the sidewalk for spectators to stand on while they watched two live miniskirted models posing in a window.

Inside, men watched a football game on a large screen TV and enjoyed a wine and champagne bar set up for the day, while waiting as their wives checked out the clothes.

At Barneys New York, Maria Fernandez, 38, of Miami, here to visit her in-laws, said she left her husband and kids in the hotel while she shopped.

“I hope to get all my Christmas shopping done today,” she said. “It’s crazy in here, but at least it’s done.”

Jonathan Harvey, 50, of the Upper East Side, wasted no time getting himself to Bloomingdale’s.

“Bloomingdale’s is the best place to get all your shopping done,” he said. “And this year I don’t think it’s that busy, so I am in and out in a flash.”

One Bloomingdale’s employee said the deep, deep Black Friday discounts at the store were a thing of the past.

“Those were the old days when you would find something 40 percent off and then another half off that,” he said. “They only drastically reduce things that they want to get rid of quickly – and they don’t want to get rid of anything quickly right now.”

Renee DeMarco and her daughter Chelsea left Bloomingdale’s without buying anything.

“I thought there were going to be more clothes on sale than there were,” Chelsea, 21, said. “I can’t afford anything there at full price.”

The two women headed across the street to Banana Republic where they paid $179 each for matching pink cashmere sweaters.